


History Has Its Eyes on You (Or: “How Bad Days at the Office Can Actually Lead to Something Better”)

by blown_transistor



Series: Holiday Parties [4]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-07 04:40:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blown_transistor/pseuds/blown_transistor
Summary: The Doctor once said "everything has its time and everything dies". Relationships progress. People fall in love. And sometimes bad days at work combined with near misses cause one to reevaluate priorities. This is the story of how Rafael Barba left Special Victims, almost threw his back out over the boxes containing Liz's shoe collection, and wound up in the last place he ever imagined himself. Hey, The Doctor also said "Think you've seen it all? Think again. Outside those doors, we might see anything... And if you come with me...nothing will ever be the same again!"





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. Lemme level here. I had a solid plan of how to end this series of one-shots. Until I threw shit at my television over season 19 in general, but specifically at "The Undiscovered Country". So I started a new Google Doc and rethought my plan. This final installment of "Holiday Parties" will be a small, multi-chapter fic. I haven't written even a third of my plan for his "better" ending, and the doc is already over 10 pages long. 
> 
> This multi-chapter part of this series of one-shots will go through various episodes in seasons 18 and 19. ...Including the events of "The Undiscovered Country"...as re-tooled by yours truly. Because that was some grade A horse shit. But, at least to me, there were a few crumbs in that episode that COULD HAVE lead to a more in-character reaction from Barba, among others.
> 
> So...enjoy.
> 
> And yes. I quoted "Doctor Who" twice in that summary. You're welcome, nerds.

_ One last time _ __  
_ Relax, have a drink with me _ __  
_ One last time _ __  
_ Let’s take a break tonight _ __  
_ And then we’ll teach them how to say goodbye _ __  
_ To say goodbye _ _  
_ __ You and I...

 

**Part One**

  
  


**December 2017**

 

Rafael opened the door and motioned for her to come inside the apartment ahead of him. “Thank you for…” He stopped mid-sentence when she plucked his full glass of scotch from his hand. 

Liz walked into his kitchen and refilled the glass. “Let’s just rip off the bandaid here. You’re dumping me. Just give me the courtesy of the real reason, not some silver-tongued version of ‘it’s not you, it’s me’.” With one hand on her hip and the other lifting the glass again to her lips, she drained it.

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

“You haven’t returned a call, text, or email in three days. Your assistant tells me you’re unavailable…”

“While there was a reason for my ‘radio silence’, it’s not at all for the reason you think.” Snatching his glass back from her, he motioned for her to sit on one of the stools in the kitchen. “I was being blackmailed.”

 

“If they hacked your online banking, I should have been your first call,” she stated after listening to the repeat of the backstory involving Ashtonja he’d told Liv. “I’m not a cop…”

“And I’m sure you’re on a first name basis with the head of bank security? I still don’t know how you know half of the people you know, but it doesn’t matter.” Setting the glass down on the counter next to his stove, Rafael lifted her right hand and kissed her knuckles. “They not only knew that we were together but that you worked at my bank. They threatened to say that you were the one that set up the wire and were complicit in my coverup.”

“That’s blatantly false.”

“You and I both know that the story is printed on page one, and the retraction is printed on the bottom corner of page six. I’d rather risk it all than let two innocent lives get ruined.”

“You’re so noble that it hurts. Has anyone told you that?”

He laughed, silently asking for permission to hug her while standing by her side. “Not in such polite language, no.” When Liz wrapped her arms around him, he returned the gesture and rested his chin on top of her head. 

“So what now? Where do we go from here?”

“Well,  _ I _ go talk to the D.A. tomorrow. Best case scenario is that I get reprimanded. I-I could get fired or suspended. There’s a slim possibility I could get disbarred or face criminal charges…”

“Then ‘best case scenario’, I get you good and drunk tomorrow night,” she interjected. “In case of firing, I know of a place where you could be a good third roommate while looking for a new job. If you somehow get sent to jail, I’ll help you escape over the border into Canada. From there, we’ll take a slow boat to Cuba or something.”

“If you helped me escape, you’d end up in jail, too. It’s not like  _ Orange is the New Black _ . I can’t picture you in a jumpsuit.”

“Nor I you, Rafael.”

“Even if I could, I would never ask you to do...that.”

“I know.” She smoothed his dark hair with a smile.

“Any chance you could stay tonight? I know you didn’t exactly come over here with that intent, but having you here…”

Liz bit back a smirk...unsuccessfully. “My makeup is in my bag, and I’ve got three outfits stashed in your spare room.”

He let out a bark of laughter and shook his head. “And what were you going to do if I was indeed breaking up with you?”

“Chug your scotch, grab my clothes, and book it the fuck up out of here.”

 

“For the record, Rafael,” she began, tugging at the hem of his tee shirt she’d borrowed for pajamas “that was a genuine offer earlier.”

He climbed into bed with a laugh. “What, your ‘booze, roommate, or  _ Escape from Alcatraz _ ’ offer?” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of  _ The Rock _ with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage…”

“Sweetheart, they broke  _ into  _ the prison in that one.”

“With the help of the only inmate that’d ever escaped and lived.” She haughtily jumped onto the bed, almost bouncing him off the other side in retaliation for his impertinence. “I’m useless at puzzles, and getting you out of prison would be a giant puzzle. Guess I’ll go on the dark web or some shit and hire me an escaped convict to get you out. Because I care.”

“Because you miss having an elevator building to escape to.”

“Because I’m in love with you,” Liz countered quietly. She let out a long, slow breath and looked over at him out of the corner of her eye. 

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. “I… I’m sorry. You what now?”

“I’m in love with you.”

“S-Since when?”

“Since somewhere between the third and fourth floors of this building tonight. I think the exact thought that ran through my head was ‘I’m about to get dumped again, only this time it’s by someone I love’. Don’t worry, I had the same slack-jawed look you’ve got now.” Taking his hand in hers, she kissed his cheek. “I wasn’t going to tell you tonight, but given what you’re going to do tomorrow… I changed my mind. I thought you needed to know that no matter what, you had me. But you don’t need to feel like you need to say anything…” She flinched when he reached up and pinched her lips together.

“I know this is a case of ‘pot calling the kettle black’, but you talk too much, Liz.” Rafael smiled. He removed his grip on her mouth after warning her with a look not to speak. “It’s good know that, regardless of why, the sentiment is mutual.”

 

When his alarm went off far too early the next morning, Rafael reached over to pull Liz closer...only to be met with an empty other side of the bed. He forced himself out of bed and followed the smell of fresh coffee into the kitchen. “There you are,” he stated through a yawn. 

She put down her own mug of coffee, wrapped his bathrobe tightly around herself, and walked across the kitchen to kiss him. “Good morning.”

“At least my firing will be preceded by receiving coffee from a…” he paused, peeked down the bathrobe, and took the offered cup “...beautiful, mostly naked woman.”

* * *

**January 2018**

 

“Oh good! You’re here! We should get…” The word “going” died on her lips when he let his briefcase slide out of his hand and onto the floor with a heavy thud. She’d come to know the look on his face in the thirteen months that she’d known him. Rafael Barba needed (in the following order): a hug, a stiff drink, and chicken korma carry-out with an extra piece of naan bread and saffron basmati rice. He didn’t need to be going out. Twenty-seven, after all, wasn’t any kind of milestone birthday that anyone celebrated. “I’ll cancel the reservation and call Tandur.”

“Sweetheart, don’t. It’s your birthday.” He motioned toward her red v-necked sleeveless dress and Jimmy Choo pumps. Closing his eyes, he rubbed at them tiredly. “Just give me a few minutes to change my shirt,” he promised as he loosened his tie. When Rafael opened his eyes, he saw the aforementioned nude pumps and red dress haphazardly discarded on the living room floor near where Liz had been standing. He followed the trail of clothing into their bedroom and found his other half redressed in her Slytherin pajama pants and grey Yale sweatshirt. 

“The app says the food’ll be here in half an hour.”

“Your birthday…”

“Remind me to tell you someday about how the only person with me on my 21st birthday was my brother. I’ll leave out how I chugged most of a bottle of Maker’s Mark and was still drunk on my first day back to class.” She helped him slip off his suit coat and tossed it onto the bed before unbuttoning his shirt. “I’m not much of one for celebrating them, so don’t feel bad that we’re having takeout in our apartment.”

Sliding his shirt off his shoulders, he leaned and kissed her. “I still got you a present. Let me give that to you at least.”

“Mmm. Maybe. Is there a 1969 GTO with the Judge package outside? And more importantly, is the band Paul Revere and the Raiders next to it to perform?”

“Your dream car is my first purchase when I win the lottery.” When she cocked an eyebrow, he chuckled. “Okay, so maybe my first purchase is a mechanic specializing in classic cars.”

“So you’re gonna start paying me? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten just how many times I’ve fixed the Bronco in a Yale parking lot. I’ve done everything from headlight replacement to carburetor rebuilds to head gasket replacement on my own. I’m the millennial Rosie the Riveter with a fucking iPhone.”

“I know you are, and I love you for it. Thank god one of us doesn’t look at anything mechanical that’s broken and go ‘it seems to run on some sort of electricity’.” 

“Easy there, Captain America,” she laughed, catching his joke. “I’m hardly Tony Stark in this scenario. The only reason I can work on my car is that it has this distinctive lack of an onboard computer.”

“You’re better than I am.” Rafael stepped past his other half and pulled an envelope from his sock drawer. “So many people are writing books about this administration that you’ll want to read that I didn’t know where to start. So I’ll let you pick,” he admitted when she pulled the Amazon gift card from the envelope. 

“It’s almost like you’re trying to inspire me back into journalism for my birthday.”

“Maybe I am. Then again, maybe I’m giving you the ability to make your student loan payments  _ and  _ buy all of these books you want to read. If one of those books inspires you…”

“You won’t turn down my re-entry into journalism.” Liz tossed her head back and forth a few times before looking down at the card again. “It’s like you know what I secretly want or something.”

“Do I? You’ve never said,” he joked, bumping his hip against hers.

She rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek anyway. “Erika Girardi, well Erika Jayne has a book coming out soon. Don’t judge me when I buy that in the same order as Michael Wolf and James Comey.”

“Wait… Erika Girardi as in…”

“The wife of the guy that sued Pacific Gas & Electric, the case that was the inspiration for  _ Erin Brockovich _ ? Yes. She is a fearless bitch. I will follow her example until the bitter end.”

“Including marrying a much older lawyer?”

“Cut their age difference in half. But she’s still awesome. And unless I missed something, you and I don’t have any plans to get married.”

“If I asked?” he inquired as she made her way into the kitchen to pour drinks. 

“I can’t say that I’d say no. But I can say that I have no plans on becoming a pop star.” She sighed in relief as she popped her back. “But I have no problem being in stockings,  a garter belt, and lingerie in the event of a shitty day.”

 

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 

“It’s the case again, isn’t it?” she inquired a few weeks later. 

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and motioned for her to sit down beside him. When she did, he took her hand and put it between both of his. 

“Have you ever thought about leaving? There’s all sorts of lawyering you could do that might even pay better.”

“And just what do you suggest I do, oh wise one?”

“It’s got to be tough leaving a job you’ve had since the Stone Age, but there’s private practice…”

“Been there, done that.”

“Or teaching,” she offered without missing a beat. “If you found the right program that not only knew what a gift they were being offered but was willing to work with you? With your resumé, you could have a good amount of say in writing your ticket in academia.”

Rafael lifted his glass of scotch and relaxed against the back of the sofa. “So do you have a ‘law school friend’ like you have a ‘designer dress in a pinch’ friend?”

“Maybe. And just maybe that’s a call I’ve never made. But y’know, just keep making fun of me.”

“And you’ll do what exactly?”

“I don’t exactly know yet, but you won’t like it.”

 

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 

“ _ I have a voicemail from the dean of G.W.U.’s law school on my phone that mentions you by name and a resume I might be interested in submitting. _ ”

Liz’s chuckle was drowned out by the mechanical clicking of the currency counter in her bank vault. She picked her phone up from the top of the cumbersome coin machine. “ _ Yay! Rick said he was gonna call. So when should be expecting your email? _ ”

“ _ Rick? You know Richard Vinick well enough to call him Rick? _ ”

“ _ Considering he promised to: reject Satan, all his works, all his empty promises, and everything else Michael Corleone crossed his fingers about in the baptism scene in ‘The Godfather’? Yes. I do have a ‘law school friend’. _ ”

“ _ And if I knew he was your godfather, I would have submitted my resume on my own without attaching your name to it... _ ”

“ _ You’ll thank me when you get the job...whatever it is that he’s offering. _ ”

“ _ Elizabeth… _ ”

“ _ He offers things that end in ‘tenure’.” _

_ “And just what are you going to do if I wind up moving?” _

_ “They have other non-lawyer jobs in D.C. last I checked. They definitely have jobs at WaPo. _ ” She set her phone down long enough to pull two thousand in twenties off of the counter and strap them together. As the machine whirred and counted the next two thousand, she managed to locate and send the gif from  Legally Blonde of Elle Woods tilting her head and saying “What...like it’s hard?”. 

“ _ Packing up and leaving is hard. I know that you know that. I couldn’t ask you to. _ ”

“ _ 1 — I love you. You don’t have to ask. If you got a job and left, I would go. 2 — WaPo would be a dream job. 3 — WIthout me, you’d just revert to type and live off of takeout just as I’ve finally figured out how not to burn toast. _ ”


	2. Chapter Two

_I’ve been running through the jungle_   
_I’ve been running with the wolves_   
_To get to you, to get to you_   
_I’ve been down the darkest alleys_   
_Saw the dark side of the moon_ _  
_ To get to you, to get to you...

  


**February 2018**

 

“Liv,” Rafael groaned as he walked down the hall of the courthouse next to his friend and the woman Liz called his “work wife”. “I appreciate your concern, but there’s only so much I can do. I can’t get a warrant based on what you have.”

“Rafa, what he did to her…”

“Not even the most agreeable judge would sign that. I’m sorry. I need more.”

Benson nodded. “I’ll tell Fin and Rollins to head back to the crime scene to see if there’s anything they could have missed.”

“Hopefully they can find something there that can get us into that apartment.” He pushed open the courthouse doors as he’d done many times over the years. He dismissed the sounds of multiple sirens outside and a car backfiring as not only normal New York ambiance but as a trapping of his job...until he saw two squad cars and an ambulance join the four other police vehicles and six F.B.I. SUVs outside of his favorite bank branch. Ignoring his colleague’s shouts, he took off running down the stone steps. Rafael did his best _Frogger_ impersonation to dodge cars on his way down and across the street to the police blockade. “A.D.A. Rafael Barba.”

“Sir, the only people allowed inside that bank right now are F.B.I. agents and the paramedics.”

“M-My girlfriend works here. Elizabeth Applegate. I-Is she…”

“We can’t comment on who may or may not be inside.”

His hands began to shake. He barely heard Olivia behind him vouching for him with the patrol officer and inquiring as to why the N.Y.P.D. and F.B.I were at his bank. His heart dropped down to his stomach when the officer said “armed robbery” and “shots fired”. When the gathered emergency personnel suddenly began clearing a path, he struggled to see above the uniformed parties.

Olivia held him back as a gurney containing his injured other half passed through the crowd and into an ambulance. Before the ambulance doors closed, one of the men with an F.B.I. badge jumped into the vehicle. “We’ll meet her at the hospital, Rafa.”

 

Two hours later found Rafael Barba pacing the shitty tile floor of the emergency room yet again. The F.B.I. agent that rode with Liz to the emergency room was still in the room with her. He could see the exam room she was in but not her ...and the inability to hold her was actively killing him. “How many questions could they possibly have?” he seethed.

“Most likely a lot. The bank got robbed.” Liv stood up and put her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “Maybe you should get some air. Pacing around in here isn’t doing either of you any good.”

“I’m fine. I…” he trailed off when the door to the exam room opened. After the agent nodded in his direction, he hugged her. “I’ll be back.”

“She’s been given a sedative, but you can take her home in a bit,” the exiting nurse whispered.

 _Oh my god…_ He bit his lip to keep from crying once inside the room at the sight of his other half laying on the hospital bed.

Her white blouse had blood spatter down the collar. Her left arm was in a sling. There was tape over a gash (and rapidly forming bruise) on her right cheek. Her neck had bruises obviously left by a human hand.

“Rafael!” Liz tried to push herself up off of the bed and failed.

“Don’t try to move, sweetheart.” He sat down on the bed and let her collapse against him. “You’re alright now.”

“I wi-ish I could believe that.”

“Tell me.”

“They said not to.”

Producing his wallet, he dug through it and produced the old drink napkin from their first “actual” date he’d saved and handed it to her.

She wrapped her arms around his middle and started crying again. “Please take me home.”

 

“They hit twenty minutes after Brinks showed up with our money but before the vault timer went off,” she began after wrapping herself in a blanket on their sofa. She leaned against him, relishing the weight of his arms around her. “After he shot the ceiling, he held a gun to my back and demanded only hundreds and fifties with no dye packs or bait money.”

“And you complied.”

“As we are taught to.” She flexed her ailing left arm in it’s sling and winced. “He made us all empty our pockets and herded us into the vault, including the customers. I set the vault timer. I punched in the code again and turned the timer when it beeped. But he put the gun to my head when it was time to work the combination lock.”

He held her even tighter and bit his lip.

“I-I was so rattled that I flubbed the combination twice. He said he would kill me if I messed it up a third time. After all, I’m not the only one that knows that combination.” Liz’s voice broke. The tears she held back finally spilled over her smudged mascara. “The only reason I’m still here is that I correctly managed 22-74-68.”

He tensed at the sound of the frantic knocking on their front door. Standing up slowly, he grabbed the cordless landline phone from the dock on the end table and gave her a knowing look. Rafael quietly slid the evidence of the one time he went to Dick’s Sporting Goods (also known as a baseball bat) out from under the coffee table and cautiously looked through the peephole. “Holy lord,” he whispered before quickly stashing the weapon in the coat closet and opening the door. Before he could greet the unexpected guest, he found his back against the wall of his own entryway...and his better half in the much older man’s arms.

“Lucas called me, and I hopped the first train here.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I’m your godfather. Of course I did.” He touched the bloody spot on her blouse. “I needed to see for myself that you’re safe. And judging by the distinct sound of a wooden bat striking a wood floor, I think you’re in good hands.”

Liz laughed softly. Extricating herself from her godfather’s embrace, she held onto his left arm. “Rick, meet Rafael Barba. I know you’ve been talking, so both of you can put a face to the name.” Turning toward Rafael, she brought the two men’s right hands together. “Rafa, this is Richard Vinick.” She excused herself to shower and change once they shook hands.

Smoothing down a stray tuft of white hair, Elizabeth’s godfather yawned and produced a large manila envelope from his briefcase. “I came here for my goddaughter, but since I’m here… The job is yours, should you choose to accept it.” He tightened his grip when the other man grabbed the other end. “I understand why she moved back to New York back then,” he stated, gesturing with a nod that he had a lot more to say. “She needed a job and what is left of her biological family. I was thrilled when she quit Lucas’ bar. But I know her. She’ll go right back to the bank even after all this. She’ll pretend nothing’s wrong, but both of us know that’s not true.” He bit the inside of his lip and breathed out slowly. “I’ve wanted her to get out of New York for years. It breaks my heart to see her wasting her best years on a bank that is never going to tap her full potential.”

“She’ll move with me.” Rafael tugged the envelope toward him. “She was ready before today, and I can’t imagine this’ll make her want to stay.”

He released the papers with an audible sigh of relief. “I’ve been sending her journalism and finance job listings out of D.C. for a good long while. What changed her…” Rick chuckled knowingly. “I know I’m the guest here, but any chance you have something to drink? Preferably in the scotch variety?”

“I can definitely do that.” After pouring two glasses neat, he handed one to the closest he’d ever get to a father-in-law. “She told me that she’d go with me the day you left the first voicemail.”

“Good girl.”

“Liz wants to to apply for The Washington Post.”

“I’ll renew my subscription.” The older man smiled. “If it helps speed your move along, my wife and I have a rental house close to campus that is currently vacant. Charming little place. It’s move-in ready. And Liz even likes it.”

“How much a month?”

“Mortgage payment is $1,527. The ‘goddaughter and significant other that I approve of’ rate is zero.” When Rafael opened his mouth to protest, Rick held up a hand to stop him. “I’ll tell you this once. Your other half and her brother are all I have left of the greatest man I ever knew. I swore before the Almighty that I’d be there for both of them in the event that their parents weren’t. Ever since their father, my friend, died… I’ve looked at each and every scenario in their lives through the prism of what Dom would have done. In this case, he would have moved heaven and earth to put his little girl on the path to the greatness he always knew she was bound for.”

“I’d be a fool to turn down your offer.” Taking his hand out of his pants pocket, he shook Rick’s hand. “She’s lucky to have family like you.”

“I should probably give you guys $250 toward your moving expenses.”

“I...I don’t understand.”

“It’s the closest I’ll ever get to paying Dom for that bet I lost. Rest assured, he would have _loved_ you.”

 

“Out with it,” Liz demanded the instant the door was closed on her exiting godfather an hour later.

“Out with what?” Rafael inquired, feigning ignorance. He masked his smirk by taking a drink of his second scotch.

“The both of you were smiling entirely too much when I got out of the shower, especially considering what’s happened today.” She quickly popped two pills that the E.R. doctor prescribed and proceeded to stare at him intently. “You two talked while I was in the shower.”

He put his glass down and took her hand in his. “We did.”

“And?”

“ _And_ you should go ahead and start packing.”

Her hand shot up to cover her mouth. “So he gave you the job?”

“Told me about a cute little house close to campus that you happen to love, too.”

Momentarily forgetting about her injuries, Liz let out a squeal of delight...and immediately regretted it. “I wish everything didn’t hurt. Right now would be the perfect time for some celebratory sex.”

He smiled sadly and motioned her in for a hug. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

“So what are we going to do, FaceTime every night before bed until I find a job down there?”

“Well, we wouldn’t have to do that if you just turn your notice and move with me. Besides, it’d help your chances of finding a job if you were available for in-person interviews.”

She pulled back from the embrace and looked him in the eye. “Just quit my job with nothing to replace it? I mean, I know it’s going to be hard to go back to the bank after this…” Backing away, she rubbed at her makeup-free eyes. “My godfather put you up to this.”

“He mentioned something about wasting your best years on a job that will never tap your full potential, yes. But I knew from the moment you were on that gurney that you’d be leaving with me. If it’s money you’re worried about, I can take care of us both for a while. But I think you know that.”

“I couldn’t ask you to, sweetheart. I’ve got student loans, a few Tradesy ‘loans’...”

He kissed her temple and smiled. “Yes you can. Just turn in a notice and come with me.””

“What about the District Attorney’s office?”

“I’ll type my resignation after you go to sleep and print it out at the office tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been involved in a bank robbery, but the details mentioned here are adapted from a coworker of mine that has personal experience in this situation. Shit is scary, yo.


End file.
